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It was Friday, Kenma’s best day of the week, for the very simple reason that he was off club activities earlier than usual, so he could walk through the streets of Akihabara with the poised tranquility that brings the thought of the upcoming weekend, and therefore, free time.
There was this gaming store he had visited countless times during his second year of high school. His previous one had closed, so he had to spend a couple hours wandering around, trying to pick the best and cheapest one – because Kenma couldn’t afford pricey videogames at the tough age of 16, and needed to stick to one in particular which could offer him the fairest catalogue.
Thankfully, a streak of good luck guided him to a humble store called Nekomachi, where he had two floors with narrow corridors full of new and retro videogames all to himself, amongst other goods (especially tons of cat plushies which lived up to the store’s name).
During the following weeks to his newly discovered cozy store, Kenma learned that it was an old woman’s business, carried with the help of her two sons, although Kenma never saw them. Ms Nekomata, the owner, told Kenma graciously one day, after baptizing him as ‘the cutest customer’, that they worked as accountants outside the store, contacting game providers, revising payments and all the economic stuff the poor old woman couldn’t do.
She wasn’t alone in the store, though. The only worker in the afternoon shift was a very tall and pale guy, called Haiba Lev. He was extremely loud and lively for Kenma’s own good, who simply enjoyed standing there in silence by himself instead, but in the end they’d become friends, sort of. The kind of friendly worker who would tell you firsthand about the newest releases, would save you the limited editions with even more extras, and would give you discounts with several purchases. Yeah, Lev was a good guy. Too loud, but nice.
“Kenma!!! I thought you weren’t coming today!! Remember that Pokémon Omega and Alpha come out tomorrow!!!” Lev was flailing his arms around the second Kenma entered the store.
“I know, Lev… I pre-ordered three months ago, why are you screaming about it, you know that, too,” Kenma said nonchalantly, even though a hint of excitement was tingling inside him.
“Yeah, of course, but you should be excited! It’s almost here!”
“I… I am,” Kenma answered, while glancing distractedly at the shelves packed with videogames he knew so well.
“It’s so close I can almost feel it! Touch it!”
“Lev, can you stop shou—“
Kenma’s vision suddenly turned blurry. Lev shoved a red box close up to his face, and when Kenma stepped back and had a better look, his eyes widened in shock.
“What—“
It was Pokémon Omega Ruby.
“Hah, I tricked you! Haven’t you learned by now that shops get their goods early?” Lev explained with a huge grin on his face. “Here.”
He grabbed Kenma’s wrist and made him hold the game in his hands. Kenma stared at the box as if it was the most fragile thing in the world.
“Are you… sure?” his voice trembled a bit, trying to hold back his inwardly excitement.
“Yeah! It’s your order!”
His hands started to fidget awkwardly around the hard plastic box. Kenma couldn’t believe he was actually going to start the game earlier than planned.
“Hey, we should play sometime when I’m off work! I’ll beat you!” Lev said enthusiastically, raising his hand in a tight fist.
Kenma looked up to him with a shy smile.
“Sure.”
The following days were basically dedicated to play, and play, and play. He also went to school, of course. Every day was the same, but when Friday came by again, Kenma regained energies, and headed to Nekomachi with the anticipation to show Lev how far he’d reached in the game.
When he got in, there was no one around, not even Ms. Nekomata. Kenma thought they might be in the staff room or something, so he wandered around, even went up to the second floor and waited for Lev to show up.
He ended up stooping down to have a better look at a lowest shelf with old Sega games, when he heard steps along the passage, getting close to him.
“Excuse me, sweetie, I gotta unload some of the new stock here…”
It was a male voice in a weird, suggestive tone.
Wait. Did he just call him sweetie?
Kenma glanced upwards with a furrowed expression and he saw a ridiculously tall guy with black hair blocking his way and holding a long pile of game cases up to his chin.
“Oh,” the guy raised his eyebrows when their faces met. “Oh… huh--”
“Kuroo-kun! Are you flirting with a customer again?” Ms. Nekomata was approaching them from behind with her hands on her hips, but her pose drastically changed when Kenma turned around. “Oh my…! It’s Kenma-kun! What did you do to your hair, boy!?”
“I… dyed it,” Kenma answered in a low voice, feeling mad and embarrassed at the sudden situation.
“It suits you well, dear. I thought you were a girl! Not that many girls come here, anyway…”
The phone started to ring and Ms. Nekomata rushed to the counter downstairs after a hushed ‘Kuroo-kun, tell him about that’, leaving Kenma in a bubble of confusion.
“So… you’re Kenma?” the tall boy asked when he put the pile of games on the floor.
Kenma gave a positive nod.
“Ah, this is awkward… uhm, sorry to be the one to tell you this, but your friend Lev had to leave a couple days ago.” Kenma’s eyes widened and something shrank inside of him. “His grandmother passed away, and he took a flight to Russia with his family.”
Kenma actually felt a ton of weight fall on his shoulders. Lev maybe wasn’t what he could call best friend –actually, Kenma couldn’t call anyone his best friend-, hell, he didn’t even have his number, but they had spent a lot of time together, and he was feeling terrible for not being able to at least express his condolences to him before leaving.
“He’ll come back, though,” the boy rapidly added when he saw Kenma’s worried look. “That’s what he told Nekomata-san.”
“Ah… I see,”
“It’ll probably be for a couple weeks or so, only. Don’t worry.”
Kenma repeated that in his head. Don’t worry. Yeah, Lev would be back soon and he’d be able to show him his brand new hair and he will probably just laugh at him, and Kenma will laugh too, maybe.
Feeling a bit better, he thought he should go back home, since there was nothing else to do there. He turned on his feet and started walking, when the new assistant called up to him.
“I also think it suits you,” he said, and Kenma turned around and saw him pointing at his head with a smile. “Your hair. It’s cool.”
Kenma stared at him, baffled. Why was this guy he’d just met telling him his hair looked cool? He then realized that the guy himself had a… weird, so to speak, hairstyle as well. Spiky with bangs in only one side. Perhaps in the fashion world, Kenma’s messed up blonde dye wasn’t as bad as he thought.
Compliments had never been part of Kenma’s life, actually he wasn’t sure he had ever received a genuine one up to that moment, so he didn’t say anything and left the shop with hurried steps. He missed how Kuroo’s gaze followed him with a smirk.
When he finally hit the streets, Kenma remembered that Nekomata-san had called him ‘Kuroo-kun’.
Kuro. Somehow it fits him.
--
Kuroo was the worst.
Kenma wondered why he was still visiting Nekomachi like always when Lev wasn’t there, and instead having to put up with Kuroo constantly. The new worker seemed to have found some kind of pleasure following Kenma around the store, asking him about his likes and life. But what pissed off Kenma the most was that Kuroo didn’t know shit about games. He was Ms. Nekomata’s neighbour, so that’s why he got the job so easily. At least that’s what Kenma believed it happened.
“University’s around the corner,” Kuroo told Kenma that was the reason for his acceptance of the job. He needed money. “But I’m also helping her, I just couldn’t say no.”
Kenma ignored Kuroo for the hundredth time that week, and absentmindedly picked up a random videogame cartridge with spaceships on the tag.
“Wow, that one is old. You got the console for it?”
“Don’t you have work to do?”
“Not really. Perks of the small business.”
Kenma sighed and walked past him to the end of the corridor, where the shelves ended in a small gap to the right. It was his favourite spot for when there were many people around.
“There’s nothing there, Kenma.”
“I know. I’m just getting away from you.”
Kuroo let out a short chuckle and followed him to the corner, treading calmly on the creaky wooden floor. He found Kenma against the wall, looking down.
“What are you doing?”
“I just said it.”
Kuroo got closer, and his height covered the light from the ceiling, leaving Kenma masked in a shadow.
“Okay, I get it, you don’t like me. But tell me why, at least?”
“Why are you talking to me all the time?” Kenma asked instead, speaking out the doubt which had been roaming around his head for days. “I’m just another customer to you.”
Kuroo seemed to rethink what he was going to say, and looked away with a sigh.
“I thought you’d be upset because of Lev’s absence. I wanted to keep you company, I guess.”
Those words tricked something inside Kenma’s chest and he didn’t know why he was feeling so heavy all of a sudden. “I don’t--… I don’t need your company.”
“You still come here a lot. I thought I wasn’t being that annoying.”
Because I like this place. I like to spend minutes looking at hundreds of games, tags, boxes, figures, without anyone judging me, without anyone staring at me. I feel good here. I don’t have to hide myself.
He didn’t say any of his muddled thoughts out loud - he couldn’t. Kenma barely opened up to people, less to people who didn’t know at all. He simply withdrew to his own. But Kuroo’s persistence was starting to threaten his all so well-built walls of protection. He was climbing them too easily and too quickly, and Kenma was afraid. He was afraid that Kuroo would step into unknown territory – into some place nobody’s been before.
Kenma felt his body tense up against the cold wall when Kuroo shortened the gap between them. Kuroo scanned him, a thoughtful gaze piercing through his eyes, and with a gentle touch, brushed away a strand of hair from Kenma’s face.
“I do like your company. Even if you don’t.”
Kuroo fixed his eyes on Kenma’s, and Kenma went stiff. Kuroo’s thumb began to trail down his cheek, and he couldn’t move an inch.
“Kuroo-kun! I need your help!”
The distant voice from Ms. Nekomata in the background startled the pair of boys, and Kuroo quickly drew away from Kenma. His face suddenly became flustered, and opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, but Ms. Nekomata called out again, and Kuroo took a last swift glimpse at Kenma before heading downstairs.
Kenma stuck in place for some seconds, with no idea of what just happened. He only noticed that his heart was beating painfully fast.
--
Kenma didn’t visit Nekomachi the next week.
It was the first time he skipped his weekly visits to the store. He always tried to go at least once, even during exams period. That place relaxed him and gave him energy to keep up with his schedule. Even during the tedious week with Kuroo around instead of Lev, he was as comfortable as he used to be. Obviously he didn’t realize so until he found himself lost in the emptiness of his broad bedroom.
The light coming from his cellphone’s screen was keeping his eyes busy, thumb pressing at the colorful diamonds without much enthusiasm. He sighed and dropped his face against the pillow after another round of terrible scores.
Kenma wished he had a friend he could speak to in moments like this. A friend who would tell him what was happening to him, maybe help him realize and admit what he stubbornly pretended he wasn’t feeling deep in his heart.
--
“Kuroo-kun, have you seen Kenma these days?”
“No, not really.”
“So weird… he usually comes by a few times per week. Won’t you happen to have scared him off?”
--
Kenma finally came to terms with himself, and without the certainty of what pushed him out into the lively streets of Akihabara again, he walked towards the less active area where his favourite store was waiting for him.
He stepped inside with a hint of uneasiness, his eyes roaming around nervously. Nobody was in sight, so he entered slowly and followed the path of the narrow passage leading to the counter and the staff room.
Kuroo was sitting behind the counter, distractedly browsing at his phone. He mouthed a drained “Welcome to Nekomachi” without even looking up.
Kenma stood silent in front of him, and a few seconds afterwards, Kuroo raised his head and his bored appearance disappeared instantly.
“Kenma,” he said, a glimpse of surprise showing in his voice.
“Hey.”
“Welcome—back,” he trailed off.
“Thanks,” Kenma replied, getting closer. “Sorry. I was… busy.”
An awkward silence filled the empty shop, which Kuroo broke after some tense seconds.
“Lev is coming back next Monday,” he started off with a firm voice. “He rang Nekomata-san this morning.”
That grabbed Kenma’s attention, but not in the pleasing way he’d imagined.
“Anyway, I’ll be off today,” Kuroo continued, and that confirmed what Kenma feared to hear. “I actually had fun here, especially with you around.”
Kenma remained silent, eyes dropped to the ground.
“Here, this is for you,” Kuroo tossed him a stuffed toy of a black cat from behind the counter. Kenma caught it in the air, and then looked closer. He noticed the cat was holding a portable console with his paws. “My treat for being an annoying ass.”
“You weren’t… that annoying,” Kenma muttered, holding the plushie tightly against his chest.
Kuroo snorted. “You vanished right after I hit on you. Pretty much clear to me.”
Kenma’s heart nearly skipped a beat, and Kuroo noticed how his face turned blank.
“I guess we can still… meet here. As regular customers,” Kenma mumbled, hoping that he was making himself clear enough this time.
“I don’t know crap about games, you know that,” Kuroo pointed out with a laugh, and Kenma’s figure softened.
“I can teach you. We could play together—some time.”
Kuroo had stood up from his chair and was now leaning on his elbow over the desk. “Oh?”
“If you… want.”
Kuroo waved at Kenma to come closer, and Kenma hesitantly followed until his legs pressed against the counter. Kuroo smirked and put his arm around Kenma’s neck, giving him a warm nudge.
“I’ll kick your nerd ass then.”
--
“I can’t believe you won.”
“Beginner’s luck, man. Besides innate skills, of course.”
It was Saturday afternoon, and Kenma and Kuroo were at Kuroo’s place after meeting up at Nekomachi as they both arranged the day before. Kenma made Kuroo waste almost all the money he had earned during the past few weeks in a Nintendo 3DS with a Pokémon copy so they could have a fair match. Kuroo actually didn’t refuse and gladly bought what Kenma told him to.
Kenma was a bit hesitant to enter Kuroo’s house, but the pouring rain outside didn’t help to change his mind. After almost two hours of initiating Kuroo in the marvelous world of pocket monsters, he had beaten more than half his own league.
Kuroo dropped his head on Kenma’s lap lazily, with his victorious grin still on his face.
“So, what’s my winning prize?”
They hadn’t agreed to any kind of prize.
“Hmm, can I ask you for something?”
Kenma shrugged – he didn’t have much to offer, honestly.
But Kuroo definitely thought otherwise, as he grabbed Kenma by his cheeks and pulled him down until their lips met.
If Kenma felt any kind of pain on his spine due to the sudden pull, he didn’t show. He was startled at first, but the soft touch of Kuroo’s lips against his brushed away any kind of second thoughts. Their lips became warm and wet, and Kuroo pulled him even closer, with his grip on Kenma’s nape, it sent tingles all over him.
It was a long and sloppy kiss, but neither of them backed away, not even when their teeth clashed embarrassingly at times, or when Kenma felt Kuroo’s tongue sliding inside his mouth. He matched their hungry path of gasping and moaning against each other, until Kuroo loosened his grip at the back of Kenma’s neck and trailed his hand along his pounding chest.
“Thank you,” Kuroo breathed out mockingly looking up to Kenma, with his trademark smirk printed all over his face. “Okay so, brace yourself: I’m not losing next, either.”
--
Kenma showed up at Nekomachi on Monday around five, and the second he stepped in, he heard the vivid voice that had been missing for weeks.
“Kenmaaa!! I missed you!” Lev came up running in fast strides towards him and landed his long arms around him in a sudden hug.
Kenma responded to Lev’s enthusiasm by patting gently on his back.
“Lev, I know it’s late but… I’m sorry for your loss,” he said in a low voice.
Lev drew back and smiled appreciatively while ruffling Kenma’s hair.
“It’s okay. Poor granny was too old, but at least she didn’t suffer much. Russia’s so cold and boring compared to Japan, you have no idea. Anyway, did anything else happen besides your fun and shiny new hair colour while I was gone?”
“I got a… boyfriend,” he said, cheeks blushing.
Lev stared at him, face puzzled.
“Huh? What game is that?”